On this day in 1980, Pink Floyd released The Wall.

 On this day in 1980, Pink Floyd released The Wall.

Widely regarded as Roger Waters’ masterwork, a view reinforced by the later big-screen version, The Wall wraps up all the Floyd’s prevailing themes and presents them storybook style. From the cruelties of war and childhood to alienation, manipulation and the chasm between band and audience, it’s all here in one big Gerald Scarfe-designed metaphor. With Waters calling the shots, and Rick Wright falling through the band’s internal cracks, it’s Gilmour who delivers the most Floydian cut, Comfortably Numb. But with a Number 1 single – Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 – and producer Bob Ezrin supervising the orchestrations, this radical departure won a new generation of admirers.